


Lullaby

by unlockthelore



Series: Affections Touching Across Time [8]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Banter, Established Relationship, F/M, Feelings Realization, Post-Canon, Romantic Gestures, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-08-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25789648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unlockthelore/pseuds/unlockthelore
Summary: Rin knew how to ensure Sesshomaru's comfort but she was learning new things all the time, including sweet ways to lull her husband to sleep.
Relationships: Rin/Sesshoumaru (InuYasha)
Series: Affections Touching Across Time [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1713493
Comments: 18
Kudos: 93





	Lullaby

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Purring](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25797337) by [myravenspirit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/myravenspirit/pseuds/myravenspirit). 



> This was inspired by a [tweet](https://twitter.com/dodoscreamb/status/1292019679590932481?s=20) posted by trololo. Also, I would like to thank ladiekoro on Twitter for beta reading this work. You're appreciated for all you've done for me and I hope this message finds you well.
> 
>  **[ Timeline Note ]** Rin is **twenty-five** years old in this snippet.

**Lullaby**

On the occasion where duty separated them, Rin was always present upon Sesshomaru’s return from battle. While he was revered for his efficiency and technique, Sesshomaru lacked capability in ordering those under his command. Exhausting himself physically was nigh impossible, but the stress of having others at his heels and an enemy within his reach taxed the mind. Rin felt pity for her husband when he came marching through the palace’s corridors, a host of generals and dignitaries trailing after him. 

Dignified in composure with his head held high and airs of indifference at the bickering of those around him, Sesshomaru remained untouchable in body. Yet, from her view tucked away in the rafters, Rin could see where he frayed: the faintest twitching of his brows at a noble’s offhand comment, arguments reaching a fever pitch leading to the subtle clenching of his jaw, the marks beneath his eyes elongating for a split second before returning to normal. 

He was tired of the company he kept, and she couldn’t blame him.

Always making sure to position herself within his sight but outside of their view, Rin offered a gentle smile when his gaze flicked up to her as he passed. Tension eased as Sesshomaru’s expression thawed and, for the briefest moment, it allowed for her to see her husband’s needs before he disappeared into the meeting room. 

It would be a while yet before he emerged, which gave her ample time to prepare and to dismiss the attendants nearest to their quarters for the day. Few argued with her on where their duties lied. Older generations that’d been tending to the palace and those within its halls insisted they stay. Though upon hearing of their lord’s return, they too heeded their lady’s request, albeit with some reluctance. Had she been a prideful woman, she would have felt irritated that they had dismissed her out of hand initially. However, Rin was aware that some of the yōkai within the palace held misgivings towards humans. 

After all, it had been a human who caused the late Inu no Taishō to fall — or so the rumors said. 

Rin sighed. Worn wooden beads, smoothed from constant rubbing between thumb and forefinger, sat in the palm of her hand. Their faces carved with symbols etched deep within the grain and traced idly with her thumb nail. Tucked beneath the celestial-patterned comforter and gazing out the window at the glittering night sky, she tried to keep herself from sighing. It would have done no good to dwell and with her husband’s keen hearing — he’d surely sense her discontent and come running. 

Let him take his time, she thought, reclining against their mountain of pillows with the intent of closing her eyes for a quiet prayer. The third and fourth bead barely made a soft _skrrch_ when the door opened. Rin glanced up, a smile curving her lips as Sesshomaru stepped through. The cloud-like fur bundled on his shoulder quivered, and the door snapped shut behind him. With a light tug of the comforter to her ankles and her beads looped in a bracelet around her wrist, Rin rose from their bed to greet Sesshomaru halfway. 

The window was closed seconds before his arms found purchase around her waist to pull her into his embrace. Her head pillowed against the nicked and dented metal of his breastplate . Spikes expertly avoided, Rin couldn’t help but smile as Sesshomaru crowded her to his chest. His deep, even breaths interrupted by slow inhales, nose buried against the top of her head. 

It was sweet. How he tried to reacquaint himself with her scent and hold her close all at once; he was affectionate in the barest sense of the word. With her eyes barely open, Rin watched as the metal of his armor began to mend itself. Scrapes and scratches began to fill out with a shimmering reddish hue enveloping them. Almost as if a tiny candle had been lit beneath the outer shell and was seeking to close the gaps. 

She swept her hands along his back and sides, wanting to feel the familiar silk of his furisode and check for wounds beneath the surface. Never would he admit to being injured, and while she knew his body would heal, that mattered little in comparison to seeing him in pain. Thankfully, he granted her search, and once she was satisfied, she tipped her head up to allow his lips to brush against her forehead.

“You should have been present,” Sesshomaru murmured against her skin. The words, while not wholly accusatory or reprimanding, were spoken with a strain of hurt that made Rin’s brows furrow.

She tipped her head up further, Sesshomaru’s lips tracing the bridge of her nose tenderly, warm breath ghosting across her skin, eliciting shivers down her spine. “Unless I wade through blood, they care not to hear my opinion...” Rin whispered with a disdainful huff. An answering rumbling in his chest spurred her to remind in addendum. “We _both_ know that.”

Duty had driven them to separate battlefields: Sesshomaru’s with fang and blade while Rin’s with words and intent. As much as she loved her husband, diplomacy and its games weren’t his arena of choice, especially in the realm of humans. Carefully, Rin pushed away from his chest, immediately missing the warmth radiating from his armor.

“Alas , I had my own responsibilities ,” she said, brushing aside his fur to find the reddened ties of his cuirass. “The council of headmen in the midlands are considering negotiations with Norimasa. Apparently, having a human working in tandem with a yōkai eases their minds to a degree. Talks of clearing roads for merchants, delegation of resources, exorcisms… it’ll be some time before a conclusion is reached, but it is _something_.” 

While Rin recapitulated , Sesshomaru’s arms never left her. His golden eyes sharpened with intent as he watched her undo the knots and ties of his armor. It was only after Rin moved to help him pull it over his head that she noticed he hadn’t budged. Their eyes met, Sesshomaru’s half-lidded and riddled with conflict as he leant his forehead against her own. 

Her hands that had been cupped at the ties were gathered in one of his own and set over his heart. With his chest plate hanging awkwardly, Rin could feel past the metal and clutched the soft, silky furisode. Beneath it, dwelling deep within his chest, was his heart’s thunderous beating. 

Rin unfurled her fingers from their half-closed fist and pressed them to his chest. It was as if his heart was vying to leap from his rib cage and into her waiting palms. The hand lying over her own squeezed affectionately, and Rin lifted her gaze to greet his. 

“I would have preferred you be present,” he said, voice tender and thoughtful.

For a horribly long moment, Rin felt terrible for brushing aside his concern. In the dim lighting provided by moonlight streaming through the window’s wooden slats, magenta markings darkened as golden eyes bore into her own imploringly. With a heady sigh, Rin drew her hands from Sesshomaru’s chest and held his jaw between her palms. 

“Next time,” she promised in a breathy whisper. His exhaustion must have gotten the best of him, she realized, when he nodded and tipped his chin forward. Their lips met in a chaste kiss. Barely more than a touch of the lips, for its purpose wasn’t meant to pleasure but to assuage and confirm. 

_A promise sealed with a kiss._

Rin couldn’t help but smile as the old adage came to mind. Giggles spilling forth from her lips caught on his own, and she could feel him smile against her. Rocking back on the balls of her feet , Rin’s hand smoothed down Sesshomaru’s chest to rest upon the hanging chest plate narrowly skimming her with its spikes. 

“As much as I love hugging you, your armor _does_ make it a _little_ uncomfortable.”

Sesshomaru’s answering grunt drew another laugh from Rin.

“Here,” she said, brushing off the hand hovering at her hip as well as the other holding her own. 

A luminous glow surrounded them as she helped him disrobe. Armor that she slipped over his head and from his limbs were set upon their appropriate stands. His arms found their way around her while her back was turned, chin nestling against her shoulder. 

“Your swords,” Rin reminded him when he’d gotten comfortable, so much so that he was heavily leaning on her. She snorted amusedly at his withering sigh. 

Withdrawn so far into his mind that he wouldn’t even use _words_. 

Deciding not to tease him too much, she nudged his stomach with her elbow to put distance between them. Enough for her to spin around and face him, fingers resting on the pommel of Tenseiga while her pinky grazed the ridges of Bakusaiga. His gaze fell to them then flicked up to her.

“May I?”

Half-lidded suns regarded her, then closed with a curt nod, barely the faintest twitch of the head. Rin gently brushed her lips against his jaw, then drew Tenseiga from his belt, turning back to the cabinet to set it near his armor. The blade’s sheath pulsed in her hands and hummed once it was set down delicately. Bakusaiga was quieter in its approval, but its hilt was warm in her palm. Wisps of pale green curled around her fingers as she pulled away and turned into the waiting arms of her husband. Sesshomaru tired of lingering and lifted her into his arms. 

“What are you _doing_?” She laughed, throwing her head back when he buried his face against her breast . Silvery-white hair tangled in her fingers as he carried her to their bed and laid her down in a giggling mess. Their comforter bloomed around her, and Rin squirmed as she sank into it. Clouds rolled across the sky and left them in darkness. Two bright gold eyes glowed in the dimness , watching her intently from just beyond the edge of their bed. 

Somewhat hastily , Rin shuffled to their pillows and sat up, opening her arms just as moonlight began to trickle in. Sesshomaru was silent in his approach and even quieter in his settling at her side, eventually curling up around her with his hand flattened to her back. Barely a breath between them as they laid together, his chin tipped downward and eyes heavy-lidded while she stared up at him.

He was mesmerizing. Beautiful simply didn’t do him justice. Beneath the moonlight in his eyelashes, his hair seemed to _glow_ an ethereal white, and the paleness of his skin took on an almost death-like pallor. His fur rippled as it detached from his body and laid at his back, curled neatly around his waist. Rin sighed. She had half a mind to tell him to disrobe _completely_ , but it would have gone unheard at this point. With the hold he had on her, she could tell he didn’t intend to let her go anytime soon.

“You won’t speak…?” Sesshomaru asked after a while, the deep baritone muddled and _vaguely_ longing. 

Rin chuckled softly. “Would you prefer if I did?” 

He nodded slowly, opening his eyes into slits. “Tell me.”

“… Tell you what?”

“Everything,” he sighed.

And so she did. In truth, Rin had a host of things to tell him, but she saw little reason to do so when he was this tired. Lying with him was just as pleasant as talking to him, and as his breathing evened out, the tireless flow of idle questions and hums dried up, indicating that he was asleep. Or at least as close to sleeping as he could be. A soft sigh parted from her lips as she reached up to touch his cheek, tracing the marks beneath his eyes, her nails brushing lightly against his skin. Trailing up from his the swell of his cheekbones to the shell of his ears, catching on locks of hair drawn behind his ear.

Her fingers nestled in his hair, and just as she began to comb through then pull them away, a deep rumbling filled the silence like a distant roar of thunder. Rin blinked slowly and held in a squeak as Sesshomaru’s grip on her tightened. His body pressed closer to hers, nearly blocking her view of his face.

_What was that?_

Her hand carefully fell to rest at his shoulders as she replayed the sound in her mind. A rumbling. She’d felt it before, but this one was _different_. Curiosity striking, she bit her lower lip and glanced up at his sleeping face. It weighed heavily on her mind to do this while he was dozing and clearly unable to fully restrain himself, but she hardly needed him to _behave_ around her. Gently, Rin reached out to stroke along his pelt, and the deep rumbling sounded the longer her fingers dwelled. Alternating between his pelt and his hair, paying special attention to a spot behind his ear that nearly had him crushing her to his chest in a hug. 

In the briefest of seconds that she could see his face, he seemed to be in bliss. His ears twitched beneath her fingertips, and there was a small smile ghosting his lips. Oh, this wasn’t good. Her eyes widened, and she could imagine what expression she was making, tucking her cheek against his heart as she chuckled.

“… Mm.”

Rin’s eyes shot open and carefully, _very carefully_ , she lifted her head and found him looking down at her. His eyes narrowed, and she couldn’t help but flash her best smile. It _was_ rude of her to do this to him when he was half-asleep, but how was she to know that he would _purr_ of all things. His hold on her eased, and an apology caught in a sharp inhale as his tongue flicked across the tip of her nose. It was quick, and if not for the slight wetness, she wouldn’t have believed it even _happened_. 

Gobsmacked and confused, Rin squeaked when he drew her into another hug, this time caressing his lips against her cheek with another throaty rumble. Shock froze her in place until she felt him nudge against the underside of her chin.

“… Again?” She asked, and the answering growl left her relieved and amused.

Well, at least she knew another way to spoil her husband when he returned home. 

**Author's Note:**

> Where to begin with this lovely little tidbit. Here, we have another mention of Norimasa and a few other things that might be picked up on. 
> 
> Sesshomaru and Rin are growing into their positions as Lord and Lady of the West with some difficulty. While one is flourishing in the courts, the other is a little tired of all the chatter. Thankfully, they can find comfort in one another when the waters are rough. I loved this HC / prompt from trololo because I have the idea that yōkai have a base animalistic instinct although they are not animals themselves, if that makes sense. Somewhat how humans have survival instincts that are similar / exhibited in animals and shows our evolution. In Sesshomaru's case, if he's tired enough or comfortable enough, his shows in the way a canine would. Wanting to curl closer to the person he's comfortable with and be doted on. Although he wouldn't _admit_ it out loud, this would be something for him and Rin in private.
> 
> Another thing for them to share.
> 
> Anyhow, that's enough of my rambling. If you all can, please check out the fic 'Purring' by myravenspirits. Another phenomenal writer for this pairing who took on the same prompt / HC that I did.
> 
> And if you want to check me out on Twitter for updates and little tidbits, then please do. I'm also on Tumblr, Instagram and Pillowfort at **unlockthelore**! And don't forget my original fiction posted on Tapas, the current WIP is **Legend of the Four Elemental Heroes**
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


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